[The
Independent, U.K.]
Le
Figaro, France
America's Great Turning Point
"In economics as in diplomacy, the most ideological
administration in America's modern history is about to end with a dramatic
renunciation of the dogma it defended at its debut. … This is a tribute to
American pragmatism, which remains their only true religion and allows them to
burn the idols they worship before it's too late."
EDITORIAL
By Pierre Rousselin
Translated
By Sandrine Ageorges
October
15, 2008
France
- Le Figaro - Original Article (French)
The financial crisis is now accelerating a radical
evolution in American politics, which the presidential election on November 4th
is very likely to consecrate. A few weeks ago, between the abandonment of
investment bank Lehman Brothers in the name the religion of the market and
“laisser-faire” - and making the decision to employ the Paulson plan to
recapitalize the banks by up to $250 billion, a genuine ideological revolution
is unfolding across the Atlantic.
After the Iraq fiasco, the failure of the
neoconservatives became obvious in terms of foreign policy. This has been
confirmed by their defeat in open country on the battlefield of the economy.
If, on September 15th, the federal government allowed
Lehman Brothers to go down by not providing its guarantee, it was because the
“pragmatic” ones in the administration - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and
FED Chairman Ben Bernanke - could not convince the ideologues who regarded the
rescue of Wall Street's fourth largest bank as “the beginning of socialism.”
Late in September, it was this same phobia that pushed
a large number of Republican congressmen to reject the Paulson plan. The version
of the $750 billion deal which will finally be adopted provides for the
redemption by the Treasury of the banks’ “toxic debt,” but not their
recapitalization, although it now appears that this too, will be done.
[The
Independent, U.K.]
And that's fortunate, because the plan would probably
never have been adopted if Congress had known that Paulson was preparing for
the partial nationalization of the banks!
In economics as in diplomacy, the most ideological
administration in America's modern history is about to end with a dramatic
renunciation of the dogma it defended at its debut:
-- In Iraq, where the arrival at the controls of
General Petraeus had the effect of minting a radical change in course for the
objectives of the United-States, which is now looking for allies within the
Sunni community;
-- In Afghanistan, where the Defense Secretary Robert
Gates, another eminent representative of the “pragmatists” in the
administration, openly advocates a “post-crisis exit" based on
negotiations with Taliban who are not tied to al-Qaeda;
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
-- In North Korea, which has just been released from
the “Axis of Evil” and removed from the list of “terrorist states” after a
muffled arm-wrestling match with the last neoconservatives in the George W.
Bush entourage.
This is a tribute to American pragmatism, which
remains their only true religion and allows them to burn the idols they once worshiped
before it's too late.
The great turning point taken by this waning
Administration is in the form of an opinion - the evolution of which is that a
shift in the map of U.S. states is taking place, which shows that according to
the polls, might be about to elect Barack Obama. The Democrat is way ahead of
John McCain in the only calculation that matters: the electoral vote.
CLICK HERE FOR FRENCH
VERSION
[Posted by
WORLDMEETS.US October 15, 9:19pm]
